Alejandro Frankel: expansion distortion compression

The piece expansion, compression, distortion for cello and piano is an exploration of the sound possibilities of the instruments as a whole, throughout the physicality of each other. There's a primary sound and a ritualistic gesture. These sounds and gestures, a primary stream of energy, are mutated when traveling through the path of a non linear circuit. Even being the same material, it creates, throughout the journey, very different musical forms.

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Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and currently based in Catalunya, Spain, Alejandro Fränkel is a composer and double bassist whose work bridges contemporary composition and experimental music, exploring the intersections of acoustic performance, electroacoustic experimentation, and spatial sound. He began his studies in double bass and composition at the Universidad Nacional de Lanús (Argentina), and later continued in Barcelona under the guidance of Andrew Ackerman (double bass), Mauricio Sotelo and Aureliano Cattaneo (composition), as well as Enric Giné and Ferrán Conangla (sound engineering). He furthered his education in Madrid at Katarina Gurska, where he attended classes with renowned composers such as Beat Furrer and Pierluigi Billone, among others. His work has been performed in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, the United States, France, and Spain. He has 3 published discographic works up to date.

Alejandro Fränkel is one of the featured artists in the upcoming documentary Music, Choice and Destiny, directed by Julio Pereira. The film follows the lives of seven musicians whose artistic paths are shaped by passion, intuition, and circumstance. Fränkel’s journey as an avant garde composer and performer forms a central thread in the narrative, offering a personal insight into the intersections of music, identity, and creative purpose.

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Vid Veljak started playing the cello at the age of 3, enrolled in the Academy of Music at 14, and at 23 became the leading cellist of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. He is a co-founder of the NAE Collective and a member of the Synchronos Ensemble. He launched the project Resonance(s), devoted to recording works by Croatian composers for solo cello (and electronics), with the aim of promoting the music of the 20th and 21st centuries and encouraging new compositions. The project received a Porin, the Croatian music award, in 2022. He currently teaches at the Arts Academy in Split.

Filip Fak is a pianist and composer with an extensive international career, having performed across Europe, the USA, Mexico, and China. Since 2017, he has been the permanent pianist of the Zagreb Philharmonic; he is also active as a chamber musician, educator, and advocate of contemporary music, and currently teaches as an Assistant Professor at the Academy of Music in Zagreb.

Vid Veljak, cello

Filip Fak, piano

Alejandro Frankel: expansion distortion compression*, for amplified cello and piano

*premiere